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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27070594">it's a long road to Eden, but I will find my way back home</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/wytchgrove/pseuds/wytchgrove'>wytchgrove</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Naruto</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Aftermath of Torture, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, BAMF Haruno Sakura, BAMF Hatake Kakashi, BAMF Uzumaki Naruto, Dai-nana-han | Team 7 as Family (Naruto), Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, Female Uzumaki Naruto, Fluff and Angst, Graphic Depictions of Torture, Rape via Genjutsu, Sakura and Sasuke are good friends, Team as Family, i dont want to spoil their entrances, more characters will be added as they appear - Freeform, strap yourselves in for the angst ride of a lifetime, the torture will appear in flashbacks</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-09 00:35:56</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,799</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27070594</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/wytchgrove/pseuds/wytchgrove</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Danzo wanted her weak, too weak to fight, too weak to repel a genjutsu strong enough to have her believe she killed him.</p><p>Instead what she found, not one second later, was a truth too devastating, too earth shattering (too much pain, so much pain), for her to even consider true.</p><p>This, now this, had to be a genjutsu surely? </p><p>But it hadn’t been.</p><p>Naruto had killed the Hokage.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Hatake Kakashi/Uzumaki Naruto</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>37</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. an assassination</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>She eventually lost track of time as they ran.</p><p>In the thick, deep darkness of the forest surrounding them, time lost all meaning and it was only a matter of time before time, quite literally, ran away from her.</p><p>She knew that in some stroke of cool genius Kakashi would probably be able to tell her how long they had been running for, but she couldn’t bring herself to speak still, her whole being, inside and out, too hyper of the danger that uttering a single word could bring.</p><p>No matter how much distance they put between themselves and Konoha, she was still too wired, still wary of them being followed, tracked.</p><p>They hadn’t stopped once since they had to run for their lives.</p><p>Danzo crafted his plan perfectly, to even the minor detail.</p><p>He had tortured Naruto to the point of being unable to even distinguish any pain inflicted upon her.</p><p>He surpassed her healing factor of Kurama inside her, dealing his blows too quick for the fox to keep up.</p><p>Danzo knew, somehow, that the bond between Kurama and Naruto had grown to the point that the kyuubi was no longer in a cage within her, something that was not common knowledge.</p><p>But somehow, he <em>knew</em>.</p><p>And he had wanted to use it to his advantage.</p><p>Despite the fact that it had happened because of the unconditional trust between the demon and its vessel, despite the fact it was because they <em>loved</em> each other now. Loved each other as family, closer than they could have ever been.</p><p>Despite this, Danzo, of course, saw this as his opportunity to use her in anyway he wished until the demon would release itself. Until Naruto would lose control over him and he’d be unleashed to wreak havoc over the village.</p><p>But Kurama wouldn’t have done that, and, they both came to realise (too late, always too late), Danzo knew that too and that wasn’t actually his plan at all.</p><p>Danzo wanted her weak, too weak to fight, too weak to repel a genjutsu strong enough to have her believe she killed him.</p><p>Instead what she found, not one second later, was a truth too devastating, too earth shattering (too much pain, so much pain), for her to even consider true.</p><p>This, now <em>this</em>, had to be a genjutsu surely?</p><p>But it hadn’t been.</p><p>Naruto had killed the Hokage.</p><p><em>That </em>moment? That is the moment both herself and Kurama had realised a little too late the real plan Danzo had been concoting.</p><p>It all clicked into place then.</p><p>Leading up to her capture by him, Danzo had been slowly sullying her reputation again after the war.</p><p>She had been hailed a hero.</p><p>He despised it.</p><p>And he sought to end it.</p><p>End it, he had, because rumours began circulating about Naruto’s unpredictable behaviour. She was starting fights with the citizens she had fought to protect, her anger bubbling up at seemingly nothing; she was being rude and even cocky about her status.</p><p>She was lording it over them, that she was their saviour.</p><p>But that wasn’t Naruto.</p><p>Naruto had known something was wrong for some time as the villagers slowly began to turn their backs on her again, eyeing her with the suspicion that she thought was long gone from their minds.</p><p>After this gradually building for a few months, she had managed to get herself captured by Danzo’s ROOT agents, agents she, and the rest of the village along with the Third, had thought were eradicated.</p><p>It was all a meticulous scheme to bring Naruto to that point, the villagers were already starting to turn their backs on her again, and so upon being given the knowledge that she had <em>assassinated</em> their Hokage. Oh, it wouldn’t be hard for Danzo to sway them against her then. There would be no going back for Naruto.</p><p>So, Naruto ran.</p><p>She ran, and ran, and ran, until she felt a familiar chakra signature following close behind.</p><p>She nearly stopped, but Kakashi urged her to keep going, they were both missing-nin now, and they could not afford to stop for even a moment until they were sure no one was following them.</p><p>They had felt chakra signatures come and go, none coming too close to them though, and Naruto hadn’t a chance to discuss theories with Kakashi about the odd behaviour of the ninja that were supposed to be sent to either capture or kill on sight.</p><p>She did have a theory though.</p><p>Danzo had already shown so far that he was happy to take his time, he had patience and all the time in the world apparently, and he would probably continue as such.</p><p>She figured, he had run her out of the village, would take the hat, and bide his time before sending anyone out to actually capture or kill her.</p><p>He knew she wouldn’t be coming back any time soon, and he knew she wouldn’t be able to go anywhere else as soon as word got out that she had killed the Hokage. No matter that she had made friends with ninja in nearly every nation, none of them could ignore the fact a Hokage had been assassinated, and they would all be on red alert, no matter how close their relationship to her had been.</p><p>The only one she could trust, the only one she had indefinitely by her side right now, was Kakashi.</p><p>She hoped that that would be enough.</p><p>
  <em>If only that could be enough.</em>
</p><p>Deep down though, she knew it wouldn't -<em>couldn't</em>- be.</p><p>And that made her heart crack just a little bit more.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>So, a tame first chapter considering the tags I have put in. Whether they contain spoilers or not, I wanted to include them so people could choose if it would be too much for them, rather than find out as they read, and it does look like a lot, but I want to be clear- this fic will be A LOT at times, so be prepared! And don't worry, I will put trigger warnings at the start, as well as use line breaks so you can skip those parts and continue with the rest of the story if you wish!</p><p>The title is inspired by Road to Eden by the corrs. I am obsessed with them at the moment and this song was playing while I wrote the first chapter and was deciding on a title, and some of the lines just fit perfectly. The song as a whole to be honest, is a sweet rendition of the feelings that will be reflected in this fic, but only the sweet side (I promise there will be some sweet sides).</p><p>As always, kudos and reviews give me sustenance~</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. the dam breaks</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>tw: panic attack/aftermath of murder</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>As you have probably guessed, the timeline is very different in this story to canon, and it had to be in order to suit the plot. </p><p>For the purpose of this story, I wanted Naruto to be around 18-20 (haven't quite decided on an age yet, but assume she's a young adult), because I wanted it to be the third and not Tsuande that she would kill (for reasons to be revealed later...). So! Orochimaru's infiltration of the Chuunin exams was unsuccessful, basically he tried and failed and Sarutobi wasn't killed. Sasuke didn't defect. Team 7 became chuunin and grew as a family. Kakashi was actually a good teacher. During the fourth shinobi war, they were promoted to Jounin, and were able to keep their status when the war ended, but weren't expected to take on genin yet if they didn't feel ready, or they wanted to further their skills in their specialisms. </p><p>Because Sasuke didn't defect, Danzo's hidden agenda was never revealed and he decided to ride through the war and bide his time before acting on his adapted plan. </p><p>That's the basics. More details will be revealed as the story progresses, I don't want to let loose any spoilers ;) </p><p>Hope that all makes sense, and I hope you enjoy this update! As much as you can enjoy some angst ha ha ha...</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>After what felt like an eternity for Naruto, they finally stop in a cave hidden in some mountains.</p><p>She gratefully collapses onto the stone, chakra exhaustion finally getting the best of her, her vision blurry in the already dim light of the cave.</p><p>She had had to use the last of her reserves for her escape, while Kurama sat quietly somewhere inside of her, carefully trying to build up as much of his own chakra as possible to get the healing process underway on her various injuries.</p><p>Every part of her ached, her bones and muscles almost screeching at the effort of even keeping her eyes open.</p><p>She was scared to close them though.</p><p>She was scared of what she might see, the gravity of the situation and what she had done still hadn’t really hit her, her mind protecting her with a numbness that felt comforting.</p><p>Kakashi just sat silently beside her, working on creating a small fire for warmth, clearly using that to take his focus away from their situation as well.</p><p>The fire made, he eventually relaxed enough to lean stiffly against the rock wall, barely a hair’s breadth away from Naruto, who was barely keeping her head upright as her body sank against the jagged rock in her spine.</p><p>The pain kept her present though, kept her mind on what was happening to her now, instead of drifting to what had happened before.</p><p>A tense, pregnant, silence fell over them until Kakashi’s soft voice broke it, “You should try and rest,” he said.</p><p>“Can’t,” was all Naruto could manage her mouth to form. Even that felt like it zapped her of the last of the little energy she had remaining.</p><p>Kakashi sighed softly, “I apologise in advance, you’re free to throw a tantrum when you wake up,”</p><p>And before Naruto could comprehend what those words meant; her eyes met a green glow before darkness took over.</p><p>~</p><p>She woke up to a soft crackling, orange glow and shadows dancing across a rocky ceiling above her.</p><p>
  <em>Where was she?</em>
</p><p>She moved fast, swiftly getting up to her feet and into a fighting stance, one hand already holding kunai ready to attack.</p><p>Then she blinked, and as her vision cleared, she took in her surroundings and memories flashing across her mind as she remembered the events that brought her to the cave she was currently residing in.</p><p>Her eyes found Kakashi, sitting on the floor, leaning, seemingly, leisurely against the rock at his back, grey eyes watching, observing.</p><p>She forced her body to relax, and let out a heavy breath before she moved to sit in front of the fire, about a foot away from Kakashi.</p><p>Every fibre of her being told her she had stay as close to her Sensei as she could, for fear of him being merely an illusion and vanishing before her eyes. Another cruel trick to sap the last of her remaining sanity.</p><p>He was all she had now, and she would be damned if she let him out of her sight.</p><p>Her eyes remained on the fire in front of her, watching the flames dance while her peripheral kept a close tab on the man beside her.</p><p>After a few minutes of a comfortable silence, as comfortable as it could be given the circumstances, Kakashi was the one to break it once again.</p><p>“How was your rest?” he asked softly.</p><p>Naruto nodded.</p><p>It was actually a decent sleep, something she definitely needed if her alertness was anything to go by, along with her muscles no longer protesting. It seems she healed, her chakra had replenished, and she was exhausted enough to not have any nightmares and just fall into a black oblivion which she was extremely grateful for.</p><p>She then realised she hadn’t actually said anything and thought Kakashi would appreciate a verbal response.</p><p>“It was good, I definitely needed it, thank you,” she said, her voice clearer than she expected.</p><p>She glanced over at Kakashi at his silence, and was met with raised brows and wide eyes, an incredulous expression taking over his masked face, “That’s good then, although I have to say I expected more kicking and screaming at being forced under,” he said, his voice light and amused, trying to alleviate the gravity of their situation and Naruto was grateful for that brief distraction.</p><p>She rolls her eyes, a smirk pulling at her lips, “I know I can be difficult at times,” which earned another brow raise that she chose to ignore, “And I may be stubborn,” a scoff this time, “<em>but</em>,” she continued forcefully, and raised her own brows back to get him to stop and listen, “I do know when I need to just- just stop, even if I can’t admit, and I’m just grateful I have people who can make me see when that’s the case,” she says, her voice slowly petering off after she referred to <em>people</em>. She used to have multiple people, now she had one, and like that, the mood turned dark. Heavy storm clouds hanging over their heads.</p><p>“Can you tell me what happened?” Kakashi asks eventually, a question Naruto knew he must have been burning to ask as soon as they managed to stop in the cave.</p><p>Naruto swallowed heavily, mentally preparing herself for actually voicing what happened. She knew that once it was said, she wouldn’t be able to take them back. They would be out there, in the world, making it all the more real than she thought it could be.</p><p>She took a deep breath, steeling herself, and then she spoke, “Danzo- He- He used a genjutsu… to have me believe I was- I was killing <em>him</em> a-after what he had done- done to me during my c-capture,” she pauses there.</p><p>Fuck, she hadn’t realised it would be so hard for her to get the words out, every part of her was screaming at them being set free and she had to all but force the words out between teeth that were trying their hardest to remain clamped shut.</p><p>Her hands started shaking and she fisted them into her shorts, trying with all her might to stop the tremor.</p><p>She took another deep breath and closed her eyes, immediately regretting it as memories flashed across her eyelids.</p><p>She opened them again, keeping her eyes on the flames in front of her, unable to even meet Kakashi’s intense gaze right now, though she kept tabs on him in her periphery.</p><p>He waited patiently for her finish, for which she was part grateful and part regretful because she really didn’t want to say anymore.</p><p>But Kakashi had absconded the village with her, without even knowing the circumstances, as far as she knew, he had not yet revealed how much he did know. She owed him the truth.</p><p>She owed him so much more than that, but for now the truth would do.</p><p>She swallowed again, her mouth and throat going dry, her whole body seemed to be trembling at this point, sweat beading on her fisted palms.</p><p>“B-But- It- It w-wasn’t- It wasn’t <em>h-him</em>, it- it was- it was-“ she couldn’t continue. Her breath was coming in shorter gasps now, her whole body felt hot but too cold at the same time. Her chest was getting heavier with each breath she tried to grasp, her body was rigid while shaking uncontrollably, her vision was blurring, and she was vaguely aware of wheezed whines escaping her lips as she tried to get control over her breathing.</p><p>Her fingers were starting to tingle where were they locked into her thighs, she was sure she would faint soon from the lack of oxygen not making it into her system.</p><p>Before she could pass out, a familiar head of grey hair appeared in front of her, blurry as it was, she would recognise that mop anywhere.</p><p>His soothing voice floated to her in the midst of her panic, “Naruto, it’s going to be okay, just breathe with me, okay? Blink if you understand,”</p><p>She blinks and is vaguely aware of gentle hands holding her face to keep her focus locked on him.</p><p>“Okay, good, I’m going to count for you okay?” he says, his voice still calm amidst the storm brewing within Naruto.</p><p>She blinks again. Her vision blurred further, a darkness beginning to creep into the edges of what little vision she had left. Her panic rose, her gasps coming shorter now, she didn’t want the darkness. She wanted to stay here with Kakashi, she was safe here.</p><p>“Shhhh, it’s okay, I’m going to start counting, I’ll whether to breathe in or out,” and he said, his voice hushed and soft and so reassuring, Naruto wanted to wrap herself up in it like a blanket.</p><p>He manages to unclasp one of her tightly gripped hands from her leg and brings it up to his chest. She doesn’t realise why until he starts speaking again.</p><p>“In- 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,”</p><p>He’s breathing with her; she feels her hand move with his chest as he breathes in. She tries desperately to copy him, her lungs clawing for oxygen down her closed up throat.</p><p>“Out- 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,”</p><p>A shaky breath escapes her lips.</p><p>“In- 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,”</p><p>Air fills her lungs greedily.</p><p>“Out- 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,”</p><p>She lets it out, slower this time, just a bit more steady.</p><p>They keep on like this for, Naruto does not know how long, but they keep going until Naruto’s breathing is coming stronger and steadier, until her vision clears and the blurring stops, until her whole form ceases its trembles, her taut muscles relaxing bit by bit with each breath.</p><p>Her thundering heart calms, and all the while she has one hand held in Kakashi’s against his chest, while his other is still holding Naruto’s cheek, his thumb rubbing soothing lines under her eye.</p><p>They stay like that, even after Naruto has clearly calmed down to her usual state, and then Naruto’s heart starts beating faster for another reason entirely, her cheeks beginning to flush under the intensity of the older man’s gaze.</p><p>He seems to notice, and, all too soon for Naruto, his hand leaves her face and he places the one he had been holding back into her lap, sitting back on his heels. Creating space between them and ending the spell that had fallen over them.</p><p>She blinks and looks around herself, noticing her eyes feel puffy. She brings her hands up to her face and realises that she had been crying through the whole ordeal, which makes her blush further as she wipes her face dry.</p><p>“Thanks,” she says, her voice stronger than she expected.</p><p>“It’s no problem at all,” he responds, his voice back to its usual casualness.</p><p>A silence settles over them once again, neither of the two knowing what to say now that that momentary panic had blown over.</p><p>Naruto decides she’ll be the one to break it this time, wanting to take the focus away from her, she had her own question burning to break free, “So, how come you followed me? Or even knew anything was happening?” she asked.</p><p>He kept his steady gaze on her as he spoke, “I felt a spike in your chakra, I got worried so I went to find you, when I did however, you were already far past the village gates, I knew something was severely wrong, and I wasn’t going to let you go on your own, so I followed you,” he finishes simply, as if it makes perfect sense and was the most obvious solution in the world to just follow Naruto blindly like that, without knowing what she had done to be running away in the first place.</p><p>Naruto blinks at him for a moment, allowing this to sink in, “Okay, so let me get this straight, you had no idea what had occurred, and yet, when you felt a spike in my chakra you followed me anyway?” she asked, keeping her voice as even as possible. This man would truly be the death of her.</p><p>He simply nods, increasing Naruto’s frustration further.</p><p>She shook her head in exasperation, “You do realise as soon as you decided that, you became a missing-nin with me?” she asks again, hoping the gravity of the situation Kakashi had put himself in would soon hit him.</p><p>He just nods again.</p><p>Naruto lets out a massive breath, her hands coming up to rub over face. She couldn’t believe this. As grateful as she was for Kakashi’s unwavering faith in her and for being there with her when she needed him most, even at his own expense, which Naruto couldn’t get over.</p><p>“Fuck, Kakashi, why would you do that?” she moaned into her hands, and she dropped the honorific because Kakashi wasn’t exactly smart enough to be a Sensei right now.</p><p>She peeked through her fingers at him as he spoke, spotting his nonchalant shrug, like he hadn’t just thrown everything away, his home, his loyalty to the village, for Naruto without a second thought, “I wasn’t going to let you leave on your own,” he answers simply, again, like it should be obvious.</p><p>It was those words however, that broke the wall Naruto thought she had built to protect herself from understanding the true reality of the situation.</p><p>If Kakashi had not followed her, with such unfailing trust in her that she was worth being followed, she would be on her own right now.</p><p>Truly alone. Her friends, her village, hell, even the nations would be turned against her.</p><p>She had committed the ultimate treason, she had killed the Hokage.</p><p>She had <em>killed</em> the Hokage, the old man that she had grown to love as a grandfather. He may have made some questionable choices as ruler of Konoha, but she did love him. He loved her, as one of his own, he had helped her as much as he could within his power as she grew up, and had a hand in the shinobi she became today. Well, maybe not today, she didn’t deserve the title of shinobi of Konoha anymore.</p><p>Her knees came up to her chest and she rested her head on them as the tears began to fall, her hands gripping her bright blonde hair as her silent sobs began to wrack her body.</p><p>Before she knew it, she was wrapped up in a warm embrace, secure and safe in the arms of her Sensei as she broke down in the cold, damp cave.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. a wisp of a memory</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>cw: blood and violence</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>did someone ask for a sprinkling of plot bunnies? no? well you got them, I hope you enjoy.<br/>The italics in this chapter is what the cw refers to, there is a line break at the end that you can skip to, as Naruto reflects on the memory with Kashi but not in detail, so you don't have to read it to understand.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>Darkness.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>That was all she could make sense of.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Just darkness, all around her.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>And blood.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>It took her a while to recognise the coppery, metallic smell filling her senses as blood, but she did.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>It also took her a while to understand where the strong smell was coming from. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Then there was pain.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Cool air blew across her lacerated skin causing an unbearable pain to shoot across her nerve endings, she had enough sense to clench her jaw tight. She wasn’t going to give her captor the satisfaction.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>And she knew he would be satisfied in her pain.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The twisted expression of glee flashed behind her closed lids, his eyes sparkling with a sick mirth at the pain he was inflicting on her. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>She knew he had a built-up resentment of her, but she honestly never expected it manifest itself like this.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>She couldn’t have been more wrong, and she couldn’t have underestimated him more.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Then a strong, calloused hand gripped her face, a firm hold that had nails cutting into the skin of her cheeks as he shook her face before he let go and decided to just slap her awake.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Her eyes shot open of their own accord, in shock at the sudden pain blazing across her cheek, her head knocked hard to the side at the force of the hit.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>She gasped and then took a deep breath, her nostrils flaring, and jaw clenching shut once again, to hold in the shout that wanted to break free.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He gripped her face again, forcing her to look at him, his fingers squeezed, and she felt something warm dripping down he neck, belatedly realising it to be blood.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>His eyes were dark and overbearing as he loomed above her. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>She thought it was quite convenient that he didn’t seem to have a need for his walking stick during her ordeal. It was clearly a prop to add to his apparently frail and battle-worn persona that he played well in the day to day.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>There was an important piece of information she was missing though she realised. Something that was vital as to why she was not healing as she normally would be.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>It wasn’t just an onslaught of pain that prevented her friend from healing her.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>No, there was something else, and for the life of her she couldn’t remember what it was.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>As she glared into the dark gaze above, she tried desperately to piece it together, but her brain was to pain addled to concentrate.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>That was what he counted on, she realised though as he snarled and crushed her face between his fingers.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>She definitely heard something crack, an she tried to fight the tears, she really did, but they came unbidden, falling from her face and searing hot pain that filled her face.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>It was either a cheekbone or her jaw, the pain was too overwhelming to comprehend where it actually came from.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>A choked cry escaped her trembling lips as he let go of her mutilated face harshly, dropping her head onto the cold slab of stone beneath, causing her tear-blurred vision to blur further. A dull throbbing forming in the back of her head now, and snaking round to join the shrieking bones in her face.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>She whimpered and tried to clench her jaw to stop it but her breath was cut off suddenly by the blinding heat that surged through her face at the action. She was still unable to identify if it was her jaw or cheekbone, but to be honest that was besides the point now.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>What unnerved her the most, she thought, was how little he actually spoke.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He wasn’t gloating as she would expect from successfully capturing her, he just seemed fuelled by an unrepressed rage that he had to take out on her body.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Again, as the pain subsided to dull throb throughout her skull and she focused on it, why was she not being healed?</em>
</p><p>
  <em>It was right there, the memory was on the tip of her metaphorical tongue, buried somewhere in the corners, somehow too far for her to reach.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>It was frustrating beyond a doubt, but she found she couldn’t focus on that as he came back relentlessly. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</em>
</p><p>Naruto’s eyes snapped open, her breaths coming in short gasps and she tried to process that she wasn’t back with Danzo and she had in fact escaped and was hiding with Kakashi.</p><p>As she came back to awareness, she realised she was lying on something soft, but firm, and it was moving evenly beneath her head.</p><p>She looked down and saw a familiar jounin vest beneath the hand on what actually happened to be a firm chest.</p><p>Her face heated up, and she shifted only for a vice around her upper body to tighten.</p><p>Kakashi’s arms.</p><p>Okay, so she was apparently wrapped up in Kakashi’s embrace on the cold floor of a cavern.</p><p>Then memories of earlier came flooding back, and she cringed internally as she remembered she had had a break down with Kakashi comforting her.</p><p>Twice.</p><p>Only the second time she passed out and fell into a flashback.</p><p>Causing her to wake in a slight panic.</p><p>Fuck. She couldn’t get away from it could she?</p><p>No matter how hard she ran, it was going to haunt her forever, wasn’t it?</p><p>She tried to push the those thoughts to far recesses of her mind as she closed her eyes and just focused on the safe embrace that was surrounding her, holding her tight and firm, anchoring her as she fought to fall, untethered, like a lonely ship in the unrelenting seas.</p><p>Then a voice spoke from above her, gravelly and low from sleep, as if he could hear her racing thoughts, “We’ll get through this Naruto,” he said, trying to reassure her.</p><p>A hand rubbed up and down her arm, hoping to ease the tension there.</p><p>“How?” she whispered, resembling that of a child, and she hated it.</p><p>“One day at a time, we’ll get through today, then the next,” he said, sounding so sure, and she had no idea how he could summon such confidence in their situation.</p><p>She took a deep, shaky breath, and clenched her eyes shut against the tears that fought to pour once again.</p><p>This was their life now, take each day at a time, as if it were a new battle to fight, to just get through each day and survive until the next one.</p><p>She, regretfully, eased out of his arms and sat up, they had to plan.</p><p>But before they did, there was something plaguing her.</p><p>As they both sat up against the rocky wall, she then spoke.</p><p>“I… I had a dream… well not a dream, a memory, and there was something there, something I tried to grasp but couldn’t,” she said, frowning as she forced herself back into that memory, trying to grasp what it was that somehow kept falling away from her. It was frustrating to say the least, as if her fingers were trying to catch steam.</p><p>Kakashi waited patiently at her side for her to continue.</p><p>“I had thought that- that Danzo had been able to get me so weak and injured because of how unrelenting he was, that it was him preventing Kurama from healing me sufficiently, but…” she trailed off as she tried her hardest to explain without going to into the gruesome details.</p><p>Although it didn’t stop Kakashi from stiffening ever so slightly beside her, something she didn’t fail to notice.</p><p>She ploughed on, however, maybe Kakashi could piece it together for her, “But, I don’t think so anymore… There was, I’m <em>sure</em> there was someone else there at one point, but Danzo made sure I couldn’t remember it clearly, couldn’t quite keep a hold of the memory, Kurama couldn’t help either, in any capacity, I could feel him there, but I couldn’t quite <em>feel </em>him, ya know? It was like, like- like he was a ghost of a memory there, he was <em>there</em>, but not quite… He’s definitely here now, he has healed me, but I still can’t talk to him, like he’s far away, to far to reach, and I’ve now realised it was since the appearance of that person that I can’t quite remember,” Every time she tried to remember that face, it got harder to get a clear picture, like she was looking through a muddy puddle that dirtied further the more she tried to resist what was blocking her.</p><p>“It sounds like he was somehow repressed,” Kakashi offered.</p><p>Naruto frowned, that made sense, but…</p><p>“But why is my memory so muddled? Is it possible its been played with? And whatever repressed is still working although not fully?”</p><p>“That would explain why he’s able to heal you but you can’t talk to him yet, sounds like what repressed him could be…” he paused there and Naruto could see his mind whirring in his eyes as he thought through all the possibilities.</p><p>“There are rare bloodlines out there, sounds like… Possibly one has developed that works against a Jinchuuriki’s tailed-beast, as a fail safe I would imagine, evolved over time to ensure that a jinchuuriki couldn’t lose control, or to stop it were that situation to arise, how it works however, there are a few possibilities, there are bloodlines that can be activated from close proximity, at will, touch or some other means that have not been revealed, rarer bloodlines tend to be kept as secret as possible, not a lot known of them as common knowledge, if at all,” he finished, and Naruto couldn’t wrap her head around the concept of someone being able to quell a beast like that.</p><p>It unnerved her greatly, and from the look on Kakashi’s face as he revealed his thoughts, it unnerved him as well.</p><p>“How would we have not heard about something like this though? If this is a bloodline, that implies it’s hereditary to a clan, and as there are Jinchuuriki across the continent, it would be near impossible to not notice that the beasts were being quelled by the presence of someone, or a particular clan,” she responded. None of this made sense.</p><p>Kakashi hummed quietly to himself as he mulled her concerns over, before he spoke again, “It is possible that this bloodline did not develop naturally, and I certainly wouldn’t put it past Danzo to have somehow created or forced the bloodline to develop, if it is even a bloodline at all,”</p><p>Naruto rubbed at her temples, a headache forming at how hard she was trying to comprehend this concept, her thoughts racing over and over each other, fighting for dominance.</p><p>Kami, thinking was so hard sometimes.</p><p>She huffed and rested her head against the rock behind her, “Fuck, so I think we can say for certain that <em>somehow</em> that person I can’t quite remember, has had something to do with Kurama’s absence this whole time? And whatever it is they did, the effect must be long lasting although not infinite because he has been able to heal me since we left,” she confirmed, and this realisation just made everything about this situation somehow ten times worse.</p><p>They had to make sure that person didn’t go near Naruto again, and she absolutely had to keep an eye on the other Jinchuuriki, from the shadows of course, as much as she could to ensure they were not incapacitated at a moment’s notice.</p><p>Peace had settled among the elemental countries, for the most part (although Naruto was absolutely sure that peace was now disturbed not just by Naruto’s actions but with Danzo predictably taking the hat, who knows what he had planned for everyone now?), but there were still small factions dotted across the countries, that were not happy with said peace.</p><p>Naruto had a horrible feeling that Danzo was going to feed those factions with more unrest, and if a battle broke out, the countries needed the Jinchuuriki to aid.</p><p>If they were taken down by someone who could quell their beasts, they would be highly vulnerable.</p><p>Of course, they were still strong ninja in their own right, but tailed-beasts were fail safes of their own for the hidden villages. The last line of defence in battle, their accelerated healing and massive chakra from their beasts meant that they could fight on for longer than the average shinobi, normally alongside their Kage.</p><p>Naruto dreaded to imagine what could happen if they were taken down so easily by someone simply being near them if a battle were to break out.</p><p>She thought she had already done her part in protecting the tailed-beasts and Jinchuuriki from the Akatsuki. She had fought tooth and nail to make sure they remained intact, and had even gone to each Jinchuuriki individually to get them started on their road to being a team with their tailed-beast, and even friends, because a Jinchuuriki and tailed-beast that worked together was a threat, was dangerous to their enemies, and in the war, it had been vital in their victory.</p><p>She shook her head to rid of herself of those thoughts, as right as she was to worry, she had to keep her head so they could survive.</p><p>“We need a plan,” she stated.</p><p>“I agree,”</p><p>“Where do we go from here?” she asked, her confidence in her earlier statement fading slightly,</p><p>“First, we have to determine where exactly we are, and then go to village where we can hide out and eat, replenish our strength, a small village though, that wouldn’t recognise us so easily,” Kakashi started.</p><p>“But surely we would still be recognised?” she questioned.</p><p>Kakashi merely shrugged, “We will alter our appearance with a henge,”</p><p>Naruto nodded, “Okay, simple, good, sounds like a good simple plan,” she rambled in her nervousness.</p><p>“So long as we keep our heads, the henge won’t fall and reveal our true selves,” he said, there was a slight warning in his tone, and Naruto knew that meant she had get herself calm enough to place a henge and subsequently keep it going for an extended period of time.</p><p>No pressure there then.</p><p>Eventually, they applied their henges over themselves, after Kakashi had determined they were not too far from a small farming village on the border of Kiri.</p><p>Kakashi placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder for a moment, to help her remain calm. She used that touch to ground her, she could do this.</p><p>And with that thought firm in her mind, she took her first step out of the cave that had become her haven the past few days.</p>
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